Nov 18, 2023
When you try to school an OBGYN.
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When you try to school an OBGYN.
forgot to do this yesterday
last line written tag game thing. tagged by @feyyrunes
She bled crimson fiery red and coated his arm, his chest, his legs, until it faded into silver. He held her hand until it was no longer her hand, and he held on long after.
idk who to tag just do it if you want
I really should start doing "Come, Follow Me" posts. I did it for Alma 30-31, but none since
I'm in the Sunday School Presidency, teach a Youth Class, and have thoughts. Plus, Church History gives me a new slew of Hot Takes. I mean, this year alone, we're covering the United Order, Polygamy, Politics (Joseph Smith for President, 1844), the Temple (which I will always discuss respectfully, not breaking any Covenants), the Succession Crisis (I definitely have thoughts...), and a whole slew of other issues
Should I do CFM Posts
Yes, but I also want Hot Takes
No, but I still want Hot Takes
Yes, but get rid of Hot Takes
No, and get rid of Hot Takes
Unsure/See Results
I've been micromanaging this one section for so long, but I think I'm finally happy with it
“Everyone seems to be in the clear as far as I can tell.” ”Well, that’s a relief,” Shadowheart said. “Though it would be nice to have a more accurate timeline for these things.” Aelius walked back to where Gale sat and took an apple from him. “Ah, apologies. I thought I had mentioned this earlier,” Gale said, “From my pod aboard the Nautiloid I saw some mindflayers doing some sort of test or…perhaps a presentation?” Aelius’ thumb sunk just slightly into the side of the apple as he spoke. A sprinkle of juice leaked through the skin and onto his finger. “Don’t leave us in suspense,” Shadowheart shifted on the ground, “What kind of presentation?” ”They had a woman still trapped in her pod.” Cautiously, Aelius raised his eyes to where Astarion sat. Bits of bread freckled the ground around him as Astarion picked at the slice he was given. “They…well, I’m not really quite sure what they did. One of the mindflayers used some sort of control panel connected to the pod.” Astarion brought the bread to his mouth and took what could barely be considered a nibble. Disgust consumed his face. In that same moment, his eyes locked to Aelius’. Astarion's eyes narrowed as a slow, flat smile spread across his face. Aelius couldn’t return it, instead averting his gaze and taking a bite of the apple; soft and flavorless. ”She…” Gale cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the story he was regaling, “Transformed instantly.”
Mike Luckovich
* * * * *
Pro Publica story on the death of Georgia woman denied emergency care for abortion related infection
A Georgia medical committee concluded that the death of a Georgia woman, Amber Nicole Thurman, was a preventable consequence of uncertainty caused by Georgia abortion laws that criminalize common procedures to treat miscarriages or complications of drug induced abortions. See Pro Publica, Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
Given the time lag between the decision in Dobbs and the retrospective review of maternal deaths arising from anti-abortion laws, the Georgia report suggests that more cases of preventable maternal death due to abortion bans will soon emerge. As noted in the article, doctors are reluctant to provide treatment until a patient is near death.
Donald Trump takes full credit for the “Trump abortion bans” that are endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of women each year. We can reverse those bans with a national law codifying Roe v. Wade by electing Kamala Harris, defending the Senate, and flipping the House.
Like the disinformation regarding Kamala Harris’s polling, don’t let pundits tell you that Democrats are going to lose control of the Senate. The surest way for us to do so is to give up the fight early because we believe weaponized GOP polling. Stay strong! We have the momentum and we must drive it home to victory!
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
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And other links for your Sunday.
Last weekend, I sat in a conference room in Austin, Texas, and listened to Shanette Williams, the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, talk about watching her daughter die after being denied lifesaving abortion care. “My baby didn’t just die; she was murdered,” Williams said.
What struck me about Williams’ story was that she didn’t realize what was happening at the time. No doctor took her aside and explained that her daughter had taken the abortion pill in order to self-manage her abortion and had a rare complication. She needed a dilation and curettage, or D&C. A D&C is a very common procedure that involves scraping the inside of the uterus with an object called a curette, which looks like a spoon.
There are a lot of reasons women have D&Cs. I had one when I had a miscarriage in 2012 to remove the fetal tissue so I didn’t go septic. They’re performed to remove cancerous tissues, or objects that can cause infections like fibroids, cysts, or polyps. They’re also used in abortions. And abortion bans have made the procedure a felony in many states.
Last weekend, I sat in a conference room in Austin, Texas, and listened to Shanette Williams, the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, talk about watching her daughter die after being denied lifesaving abortion care. “My baby didn’t just die; she was murdered,” Williams said.
What struck me about Williams’ story was that she didn’t realize what was happening at the time. No doctor took her aside and explained that her daughter had taken the abortion pill in order to self-manage her abortion and had a rare complication. She needed a dilation and curettage, or D&C. A D&C is a very common procedure that involves scraping the inside of the uterus with an object called a curette, which looks like a spoon.
There are a lot of reasons women have D&Cs. I had one when I had a miscarriage in 2012 to remove the fetal tissue so I didn’t go septic. They’re performed to remove cancerous tissues, or objects that can cause infections like fibroids, cysts, or polyps. They’re also used in abortions. And abortion bans have made the procedure a felony in many states.
No one told Williams any of this as she sat there, holding her daughter’s hand, comforting her daughter, believing her daughter would live, even as she was dying.
When doctors finally decided to operate, it was too late.
It took reporter Kavitha Surana two years of showing up on Williams’ doorstep and leaving her voicemails and notes until Williams finally learned how her daughter died.
Two years to finally learn the truth.
That stuck with me. Because in Williams' telling she had told the reporter in no uncertain terms to go away — more than once. How in her grief and anger she’d pushed Surana away. And how Surana kept coming back, over and over, determined to keep telling the story. Determined in her pursuit of the truth, despite the repeated rejection.
Right now, people who believe in human rights — trans rights, immigrant rights, reproductive rights — are facing loss after loss.
Amanda Zurawaski is one of Time magazine’s women of the year. She was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the Texas abortion ban after she went into septic shock while waiting for care while she was miscarrying. In May, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the ban and Zurawaski lost her case. Zurawaski then partnered with the Kamala Harris campaign to tell her story. She was devastated by Harris’ loss in November. But she told Time, “The anti-choice movement would want us to be tired, they’d want us to rest. It’s not in my nature to give up. It can get worse, and it will, if we don’t continue to fight.”
Who benefits when we don’t hear stories about the lives lost because of these abortion bans? Who benefits when we think we are lost and alone; that our tragedies are isolated? Who benefits when we are denied basic human rights and made to think it is our fault? That we should have tried harder, girlbossed better, pulled harder on the bootstraps to get ourselves up?
There is a lot in this world that is urging us to quit. Especially now. We are tired. We have to do this again. We have to sustain anger and outrage and grief in the overwhelming face of the daily inhumanities and constant violence perpetuated by our government. And I see in some aspects of our society an attempt at retreat. Of self-care, soft life, consumerist coddling that would encourage us to feather our nests rather than fight. A hand-washing of the tragedies, a real, “Well, I didn’t vote for him, so why should I care?” attitude.
I asked Williams what she wished ProPublica had done differently. If there was some piece of advice she could give to people who are telling these hard stories. And she told me, “Nothing.” In the end, she was glad Surana had been persistent and dedicated in telling the truth. And now that she knows, she isn’t going to stop telling Amber’s story. Not ever.
And when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise, and, with uplifted hands to heaven, yea, even directly, salute his brother or brethren with these words: Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:132-133 [substitute gender neutral language liberally, as needed]
I didn’t remember this greeting prescribed for the School of the Prophets in the Kirtland Temple before reading the section again for Sunday School this week. I think we would be better off as a church if this language had survived more throughly and more prominently. After a year where I have felt more divided from other members of the church than ever before, I love how it defines our fellowship with one another as something that is “fixed, immovable, and unchangeable” as long as we mutually offer that fellowship and walk in God’s commandments. It’s a concept of fellowship that is simple and straightforward, but also challenging. I’m also moved by how it acknowledges that this kind of friendship and siblinghood can only be achieved “through the grace of God in the bonds of love.” We need God’s grace to be able to love each other in the fixed, immovable, and unchangeable consistency that we are called to. I can’t love the jingoistic anti-masker in the ward by myself. Maybe through God’s grace I can. And I love that this salutation articulates the two great commandments, but in order of their immediacy to us, in the order we usually encounter them—we are approached by our neighbor who we are called to love immovably and then we love God in thanksgiving together.